Last night there was a violent thunder storm at Ferentillo. It was quite dramatic with the lightening flashes lighting up the surrounding hills. This morning was quite a contrast with dry sunny weather. We set off south east and stopped near the town of Rieti to fill up with diesel. The man working at the fuel station was from Mali and had been in Italy for some years. He said how things were really bad in Mali now with Al Qaeda causing massive problems. He shared our enthusiasm for the Malian band Tinariwen. We crossed a snowy pass between Riati and L'Aquila.

It was quite strange to have come all this way south without encountering any snow and then to come across it here.

We were up at over 1000 metres but the road was fine. The authorities had even cleared this parking place where we stopped for a brew.

We have now crossed from Umbria into the mountainous region of Abruzzo. We are stopped for the night in the village of Stiffe. Here is a picture of their church. It is in a terrible state - probably the result of earthquake damage.

The bell-tower has a massive crack!

The whole village seems to be being held up by girders and scaffolding.

High above the village hangs a massive crane which seems to be coordinating the efforts to stop the whole place falling down.

There are however fantastic views to the Grand Sasso - the highest range in the Apennines with peaks of up to 2900 metres high. The sky is clear now and we are at a height of 750 metres so were expecting a cold night!